Troubleshooting Help/Advice needed

[skypilot]

Hi Folks:

I really need some help here. For the past few months I have been experiencing some increasingly annoying pixilation and audio dropouts, especially on the HD channels, especially ABCHE and CBCHE. My transponder signals are good, i.e., trans. 01 on 82 is around 89-92% (trans. 11 on 91 is always mid-90s).

During an hour programme, e.g., Letterman, I might see anywhere from a half-dozen to a dozen or so dropouts, pixilation, etc. Way too much.

I recently called Bell and they wanted to send me a new receiver. I asked if they could first send someone to check the lines, lnbfs etc--at my cost (ouch!). The service tech came and repointed but would not change the cables as BEV said he would be doing (he even called his supervisor and they said, at this stage, they have done everything they can).

Well, the pixilation and dropouts are still present and I'm not a happy camper :-(

What do I need to do here? Demand that Bell replaces cabling? send a new unit? I could really benefit from your suggestions. I also need to say that, with the 9200, we PVR everything, so much of the problems are after-the-fact, except when watching Letterman live, etc.

Any help here is very much appreciated. Thanks. s.

[fricfrac]

I've been having the same problems (just in the past couple of months)
I find CBS hd (eastern feed) to be the worst channel for this problem and ABC (hd east) does have the same problem but not nearly as bad, most other stations are ok and sd stations seem fine.
Being able to get all the networks in HD, OTA from Buffalo make the problem not as serious an issue for me.
I figured the problem was on Bells end.
I too will be watching this thread for some suggestions.
I got my 9200 the day they were released in July and (knock on wood) have had "nearly" no problems with it.
I had one instance of the "green pixilation" several weeks ago which was quickly fixed with a reboot.
And I had a real problem with "satellite signal lost" when I first installed my DPP LNB and separator which was fixed when I replaced some of the RG6 cables.
All in All I really love this unit and don't want to have to send it back just to be replaced with some used scratched up unit.

[skypilot]

Originally Posted by fricfrac

I find CBS hd (eastern feed) to be the worst channel for this problem and ABC (hd east) does have the same problem but not nearly as bad, most other stations are ok and sd stations seem fine.

Thanks for your reply; it seems we share the same very annoying problem <grrrrrr!>.

I'd really like to know from others on this board how often they experience pixelation and audio dropouts? on what channels? and what amounts are acceptable, if any?!

[FuzzyQball]

I have pixilation and audio problems on a regular basis. Often my 6100 seems to get confused and if I change channels and then come back to the channel I was watching it often corrects some of these problems.
Other that problems with the STB, there could also be problems with the dish/wiring on your side, satellite problems, network problems etc. Tough to figure out who is at fault here.
My general impression is that we are still on the bleeding edge of technology here, and some of this stuff is bound to occur. BEV is compressing the hell out of things, and pushing the capability of their system to give us the HD that we have. The whole system does not support HD programming very well. It will take a lot of money along with some new technology to make a significant improvement in things.